Abstract

In the last decade, the field of aerial robotics has experienced fast growth, especially in the case of multi-rotor aerial vehicles. High-performance micro-scale processors and high-efficiency sensors have helped to increase the commercial scope of these flying robots. Aerial robots are increasingly being considered to carry out complex missions within unstructured and dynamic environments. For instance, aerial transportation is essential in emergency rescue missions, as well as for time-critical cargo delivery tasks. Similarly, space robotics has seen a significant increase in activity recently. In this seminar, I will present ongoing projects at the University of New Mexico related to cooperative aerial manipulation, multi-agent counter uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS), mapping volcanic CO2 emissions with flocking UAVs, and advanced robot manipulation methods in support of the on-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (OSAM) paradigm.

Bio

Rafael Fierro is a Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the University of New Mexico, where he has been since 2007. He received his Bachelor of Science from the Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito-Ecuador, his MSc degree in control engineering from the University of Bradford, England, and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. Before joining UNM, he held a postdoctoral appointment with the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing & Perception (GRASP) Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania and a faculty position with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Oklahoma State University. His current research interests include heterogeneous robotic networks, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and space robotics. The National Science Foundation (NSF), US Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Department of Energy (DOE), and Sandia National Laboratories have funded his research. He directs the AFRL-UNM Agile Manufacturing Center and the Multi-Agent, Robotics, and Heterogeneous Systems (MARHES) Laboratory. Dr. Fierro was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and the 2008 International Society of Automation (ISA) Transactions Best Paper Award. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems T-CNS, and IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering T-ASE.